Fox Pilots Update: ‘Studio City’ May Not Be Dead After All

This may be the most twisty story this upfront. After looking like a lock for weeks, Fox’s drugs-and-music drama pilotStudio City started to fade fast a couple of days ago when dark horse Lucifer began its rapid rise. Things were not looking good for Studio City, which was facing the possibility of being the only Fox drama pilot this season not to get a series order. Fox had not made all of its its drama calls yet last night when Studio City star Eric McCormack announced on Twitter that Fox was not picking up the show, with creator Krista Vernoff indicating that the pilot would be shopped elsewhere.

That may turn out to be one big misunderstanding, which won’t be surprising given the craziness and confusion in the final days before the upfronts when the fate of dozens of pilots and series is decided, with news and speculation sometime getting mixed up. While I hear that Studio City indeed will not be picked up heading into Fox’s upfront presentation on Monday and won’t be announced as part of the network’s 2015-16 schedule, I’m being told that the project won’t be released and may be revisited after the upfronts, possibly for midseason.

Created by Vernoff inspired by her real-life experiences, Studio City tells the story of a young singer’s path to stardom, as she comes of age living with her songwriter father (McCormack) — who turns out to be a drug dealer to the stars. Warner Bros. TV and John Wells Prods. are producing.